A Twist of Fate
by Lady Loophole
Summary: Instead of Alex Rider being born with an XY set of chromosomes, she was born with a XX set. After Snakehead, Jack is killed and Alexandra is sent to live with someone from her recent past. Fem!Alex AU Alex/Tom
1. Chapter 1

"Alexandra," Mrs. Jones started after the teen spy sat down. "We are very sorry for your loss and offer you our condolences."

The girl stared at the woman and the grey man in front of her expectantly, pretending she hadn't heard the words. She knew they didn't really care. They obviously wanted something from her.

"What do you want from me now?" Alex asked in a tone that was devoid of emotion. Her eyes were empty and she looked almost lifeless.

"You see Alexandra, now that your past guardian is gone, you need a place to stay," said Blunt bluntly. "We give you two options. The first is that you stay in the orphanage we told you about when we first discussing alternatives."

The two heads of MI6 looked at the girl expecting a sarcastic reply or outburst but none came at all. They exchanged a glance and Blunt continued.

"The second option is that you stay with the person that we have chosen to look after you. We know for certain that this person is trusted and you've met before."

Alex weighed the pros and cons for a moment before deciding. "The second one," she replied, knowing full well that that was the option they wanted her to choose.

"Good choice," Mrs. Jones said as if she hadn't known Alex would say that all along. "We'll have someone take you to your old home to get your things and then drive you to your new guardian's place."

Outside there was a black car with tinted windows waiting for her. She thought it seemed like they were just begging for them to be targeted as someone important. Upon arriving at her uncle's former home, she rushed in alone and headed straight to Jack's room to get pictures she knew she had. There was one in specific that she wanted of her, Jack, and Ian just before he'd been killed. The last time she'd not been in danger of losing her life because of some government scheme.

After getting a few of Jack's photos it was just a matter of getting her own clothes and possessions. The driver sent her a sympathetic smile as she got back in the car but didn't bother to attempt small talk on the ride there.

The driver was obviously another agent and escorted her to the door where a huge shock was waiting. One of her former unit members from her brief time the SAS camp was there. It wasn't Ben Daniels or even Snake who had been at least somewhat nice to her toward the end but Wolf that opened the door.

"Cub?" Wolf was dumbfounded and Alex wasn't much better. "What are you doing here?"

"Mr. San Luca," the agent interjected. "This is your new ward. I see you have met. I'll leave you here now." The last part was directed towards Alex who was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Wolf of all people was to take care of her.

"Er, come in kid. Your room is second on the right," the man gestured down a hallway.

Alex picked up her bag and made her way down the hall taking notice of the three other doors. She guessed that one was Wolf's and the other a bathroom. Maybe the third was another bathroom?

Her room itself was bland-beige walls and white carpet with a twin bed, brown dresser and nightstand, and small, brown wooden desk.

The first thing she took out of her bag was the photograph of herself, Jack, and her uncle Ian from seven years ago. Jack had just moved in but was adjusting nicely.

The second photo was of her parents, John and Helen Rider, holding her as a newborn. It was normally a picture that sat above the above the fireplace along with others of her as a child along with the first but those were the only two she cared to take.

After studying them for a moment, she placed them on the nightstand. She swiftly unpacked the rest of her things and then lied on the bed to think about her situation now.

Just two weeks ago she had learned of her own godfather's betrayal. Jack had been killed by one of Yu's men before MI6 could get there. Now Alex was at the home of the main person that made her life hell at the SAS training camp in Brecon Beacons.

God her life was screwed up.

A knock on the door pulled Alex out of a sleep she didn't realize she'd fallen into.

"Yeah?" She called, sitting up.

"Dinner's ready," Wolf responded gruffly and Alex could hear him walk away.

Alex ran her fingers through her hair, which was the same length as a boy's. She hated it but MI6 made her do it for the missions. They claimed bad things happened to girls and didn't want to chance it but needed her skill so they hacked it all off and bound her barely-there-anyway chest.

Fortunately, now that she had finished her mission, she could try to let it grow out again depending on how long they let her off.

Making her way back down the short hall, the smell of pizza made her mouth water. Her mouth twitched at the idea of Wolf wearing an apron as he cooked in the kitchen. That alone led her to believe that is was ordered, a belief that was confirmed when she saw the delivery box.

Wolf had left a plate and cup out for her and was already sitting at the table eating. She grabbed two slices of the pizza and filled her cup with water.

Alex could feel his stare piercing her as she ate; he was most likely wondering why she was placed with him of all people, a thought that was duplicated by her. She quickly finished her meal and cleaned up before making to disappear back to her new room.

"Er Cub...Alex...hold up a minute. We need to talk," Wolf sounded, not nervous, but maybe curious or even a tad wary but still like a hardened soldier. The curiosity was just an underlying emotion.

The teen sat back in her chair and quirked a brow at him. She resisted the urge to impatiently tap her foot.

"Look kid, you're not a bad person to work but I honestly have no idea why they picked me for this or why you needed a place to stay in the first place. I'm not going to leave you all the time because I do actually like spending time here but I'm not going to mollycoddle you either. Got it?"

At her nod he continued, "I need to lay down a few rules too. I don't care how late you stay up but you have to go to school whenever that starts up or else MI6'll be on my back. Give me a heads up if anyone's coming over. You can get whatever you want from the kitchen and if there's some sort of food you need there's money in a jar on the counter. Leave a receipt so I know how you spent it.

"Last thing is that Snake, Eagle, Fox, and Stag come over a lot. Stag replaced Fox after he left. You can go now."

Alex was a bit shocked at how much the normally lone man was saying though it didn't show on her face.

In her room, she pulled out her phone and started texting her best friend Tom. Tom was always there for her and he still was.

_You still on for football tomorrow?_

_Course I am_

_Good I need to talk _

_About what_

_Can't say over the phone_

_You better tell me tomorrow _

_Nah I think I'll leave you in suspense _

_You better not_

_No promises. See you tomorrow Tommy _

_I told you not to call me that Andy _

_Same to you _

_I'll stop if you stop _

_No deal Tommy_

_We'll settle this tomorrow Andy _

_Fine _

_Fine _

Alex smiled as she thought of her best friend who was still the same height as her even though he'd already had a growth spurt.

She then decided to go to sleep early and drifted into the arms of Morpheus.


	2. Chapter 2

At exactly 6:50 in the morning the teen spy woke up sweating with a scream about to burst from her lips. She quickly calmed herself, not wanting to wake her new guardian. She had relived all her near death experiences and needed to clear her mind. She obviously wouldn't be getting back to sleep.

Instead she decided to go to the kitchen and make breakfast. She made herself bacon, eggs, and toast and left some for Wolf for whenever he woke. As she ate, he walked in with his short hair wet, looking far more alert than any sane person would be at that time in the morning.

"You can cook?" He asked her.

Alex shrugged in response even though it was obvious she could. He served himself and sat across from her and shoveled food into his mouth as Alex watched amused.

"This is good. You mind cooking? I tend to set things on fire."

Alex shrugged again. She really didn't care. It was something to take her mind off things.

She then cleared her spot, left the room, showered, and got dressed. She wore a pair of ripped skinny jeans and an old shirt from her karate place. She put on a pair of white trainers and scribbled out a note saying that she was going to the park and left it on the table.

On arrival, she saw Tom waiting underneath a tree facing away from her rolling the football under his foot. She crept closer silently and then took a running leap at his back and clung to him piggyback style. He stumbled forward, nearly falling.

He groaned in exasperation. "Andy! You're going to break my back. I swear you're putting on pounds."

Said girl smacked the back of his head before jumping off his back and grinning. She flexed her arm and said, "What you're feeling is all this muscle. Check out these guns." Sure enough she had some pretty impressive biceps and she turned her head to kiss them. "I know you're jealous," she teased.

When Alex was around Tom, you could see the stress and aging her double life brought her melt off. Around him she could act her age again.

"Honey please. Are you trying to say you're proud to look like a man?" Alex gasped in mock offense, hand flying to her heart. "Besides, we all know I'm the one with the six pack."

He lifted his shirt to expose his abs and Alex rolled her eyes.

"Now if we're done comparing our fabulous muscles-"

"Never."

She shot him an exasperated look. "We have more pressing matters to attend to."

"I can bench press more kilos than you if that's what you mean."

"No it's not. I'm talking about who I'm living with now."

"Yeah who _are_ you living with now?"

"Maybe if you'd shut up long enough to let me speak…" she looked at him pointedly.

He raised his arms in 'innocence'. "Shutting up."

She looked around them to make sure no one was near enough to hear, "Finally. Remember how I told you I went to _Hell_ and that's where I had to start pretending to be a boy?" At his snicker and nod of confirmation she continued, "Well the leader of the unit is the one I'm saying with. He's coincidentally the one that hates me the most."

"Huh. The world really does hate you," Tom stated, earning a punch in the arm. "Well let me at them and I'll teach them not to mess with you anymore."

"_Please_. The thought's nice and all but they could take you out in a heartbeat. Hell, I could take you out in a heartbeat, shrimp," she grinned.

"Shove it," And he did so literally. "I'm trying to be a good best friend here and you're not making it easy. Now, how about we do what we came here for?" He picked up the football and spun it on his finger.

"How long did it take you to get that one Tommy? Is that what you do while I'm gone?" She taunted as they raced towards the goals.

Instead of verbally responding, he aimed the ball towards her goal and kicked. She blocked it and smirked. "Is that the best you've got? I thought you were better than that."

They playfully bantered back and forth as they raced up and down the field. As the sun started to set Alex decided she had to call it a night. They parted with a promise to meet there again the same time the next week.

Arriving back at the flat, she checked for any other signs and finding nobody decided to take a quick shower. As she finished and wrapped her towel around her she realized she had forgotten her clothes in her room. As she opened the door a blast of cold air hit her making her shiver. She made a dash down the hall and bumped into a large body.

Alex nearly fell to the ground but a hand shot out and caught her as she made sure her towel stayed up. She looked up expecting to see Wolf and was surprised to see Ben Daniels instead.

"Alex?" He asked shocked. "You're the _boy_ staying with James." He snorted. "Figures." He then looked at her appearance again and raised an eyebrow. "Is this something you normally do?"

"Is checking out teenage girls dressed only in towels something you normally do?" She shot back trying to cover up her embarrassment.

He smirked. "Would you like me to make it so?"

Alex rolled her eyes and heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"Ben? We heard you talking to somebody. Is he…?" Snake cut himself as he saw the girl with short hair standing there in only a towel.

"Wolf…I thought you said it was a boy staying with you?" Eagle asked confused.

"Cub? You're a girl? Didn't you think that was something I should know?" Wolf was shocked but angry.

"That's Cub?" Snake's eyes widened to an almost impossible size.

"How the hell did you hide this at training?" Eagle asked bewildered.

She smirked in response, "I'm a good actress."

Ben snorted, "Not good enough to fool me."

"And just how was I supposed to know that you were following my every move? If anything you're just a stalker you creep," Alex stuck her tongue out at the man.


	3. Chapter 3

The SAS men were still gaping at her and she shifted uncomfortably. "As much as some of the sluts at my school might enjoy being in my position, I for one am not. If you kindly avert your eyes from the chest area and raise them to my face level that would be much better."

Ben snickered at their faces and their heads snapped to him. "You knew?" Wolf asked angrily.

"Only when I met her in-" Alex had slapped a hand over his mouth.

"When he spied on me like the nasty pervert he is." Ben gaped at her shock as the other men snickered.

"That is _not_ true! I found out in-"

"Nah ah. No telling. They don't have the _qualifications_," meaning clearance level, but Alex wasn't stupid enough to say that and increase their curiosity. "Now, can I trust you to stay quiet while I go, uh, get dressed? Good."

She tried backing up slowly as they watched her and then she turned and sped down the rest of the hall and slammed the door to her new room shut and locked it, shoving a chair underneath the doorknob just in case. She decided to look girly for once and put on a pair of jeans-tighter and definitely more restricting than the male pants she was used to wearing recently-and an old blue jumper and sports bra. She always wore her faded but sturdy trainers in case she ever needed a quick getaway.

She glared at her hair in her reflection in the window as if that was the reason it was so short and not the fact that MI6 required it. Alex was tired of looking like a boy. She wanted to be the girl she was not the boy she had to pretend to be for MI6. She raked a hand through her short hair and sighed, her anger draining. There was nothing she could do about it now.

She left her room and saw them still staring at the area she had disappeared to. Everyone except Ben that is, he was just silently laughing at them.

"Not to be offensive or anything," Eagle broke the silence, "But it's one thing for a teenage boy to keep up with the training, but it's a whole other for a teen girl to. Honestly it's kind of insulting."

"Two things. First, that would be offensive if I actually cared. Second, what, ashamed you can't provide too much of a challenge for the fourteen year old girl?" She teased.

"Wait," Snake's eyes narrowed. "You're _fourteen_?"

"Yeah. What'd you think I was? Twelve?"

"No," Wolf said, even more bewildered. "We thought you were at least sixteen. Fourteen is ridiculous."

"Am I supposed to be insulted by that or is that a compliment?" Alex wondered out loud.

"Coming from Wolf," Snake replied, "It's probably both. A small compliment hidden by an insult because he doesn't want to really admit it."

Wolf then growled at him like the animal he was named after. Alex walked over and patted his back.

"Don't worry. We won't tell anyone you actually have a heart. Your secret's safe with us."

"Shut it kid," Wolf snarled.

"Someone needs a chill pill," Eagle muttered causing the others to snicker.

Well except Wolf of course.

Alex grinned at the look of fury on Wolf's face and pushed past him to the kitchen. "I don't know about you guys but I'm starved. All this wit being thrown around is really making me hungry." She rustled around in the pantry, then in the fridge before coming up with a basis of noodles, tomatoes, ground beef, and vegetables.

"You're making spaghetti?" Snake asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. "It's been so long since I had pasta that wasn't from some rubbish restaurant."

"Right on! And whoever helps me without messing it up gets extras!" She bribed, trying to get out of some extra work.

Eagle, Snake, and Ben all shoved forward, eager to help, well more eager to get extra servings actually. Wolf hung back, still obviously peeved about the recent discovery. Instead, he sat at the dinner table alternating between glaring at the table and at Alex.

Alex, feeling that someone was looking at her, turned to look and grinned cheekily at him causing him to roll his eyes. He then got up and looked at the water which had started to bubble, and ripped off a flap of the pasta box and dumped it in.

"I'm only doing this because _her_," Wolf directed a glare towards Alex who whistled innocently, "cooking is well, good."

"That's not what you implied this morning!" Alex reminded him. "You asked me to cook every meal!"

"It's because he can't cook," Eagle interjected as he stirred the noodles.

"I actually got food poisoning from his food," Ben added helpfully as he put the pot for the sauce on the burner.

"And all his food looks like vomit," Snake informed her.

Wolf grumbled under his breath. "I get it I get it. I can't cook. Now shut up."

"My eight year old nephew makes more edible mud pies than your food."

"I said shut it!"

"Speaking of the personal topics we're getting into-" Snake started.

Alex cut him off, "I didn't realize how personal cooking skills were. This must be a terrible invasion of privacy."

"Be quiet. As I was saying, back to our earlier conversation, why was a fourteen year old girl in a SAS camp? Were your parents busy and they work for MI6? Is your dad wanted by terrorists? And why are you here?"

Ben glanced at Alex sympathetically as her face abruptly closed and she more roughly chopped the tomato. The other men also saw the changes and glanced at each other uneasily.

"MI6 recruited me," She responded curtly.

"And your parents let you? Don't you understand this isn't all fun and games?! This is life or death! This is for your country! This isn't a game!" Wolf yelled. Why a teen girl doing work for MI6? What kind of rubbish parents did she have that would let her do that?

"DO YOU THINK I'M STUPID?" Alex exploded and the men's eyes widened. "YOU THINK I WANTED TO DO THIS? I DON'T WANT TO WATCH MY BACK EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY BECAUSE I THINK THERE'S SOMEONE READY TO TRY TO ASSASSINATE ME AGAIN! MY PARENTS DIDN'T WANT THIS FOR ME EITHER BUT THEY CAN'T DO A DAMN THING ABOUT IT BECAUSE MY GODFATHER BETRAYED THEM AND KILLED THEM! MY UNCLE LEFT ME TO MI6'S CARE AND THEY BLACKMAILED ME INTO DOING MISSIONS FOR THEM! I SAW THE PERSON-WHO-RAISED-ME-SINCE-I-WAS-SEVEN'S DEAD BODY IN MY KITCHEN BECAUSE I WAS ON SCORPIA'S HIT LIST! STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS THAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT ME BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! SO BUGGER OFF!"

Even though Ben knew some of it, he was still shocked at the things he hadn't been aware of. This girl that was at least ten years younger than them and yet had faced more than they had even nightmares about if this was anything to go off of.

Alex was breathing hard after her outburst and her face was red with fury. Her eyes slowly grew from slits and then widened as she realized all she had told. She bit her lip sheepishly as the men stared at her in shock.

"Er, oops. I didn't mean for that to happen but it felt good getting it off my back. Anyway…I think I'll just keep cooking and we'll forget this ever happened." Alex tried to turn back to the stove but a large hand gripped her shoulder and turned her back around.

Ben looked her straight in the eyes before pulling her into a hug. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed into it. The last person to hug her had been Jack and that was a week ago. She had been trying to forget about how comforting her hugs had been but this brought it all back full force. She buried her face in his shirt and gripped him tighter as tears fell silently from her eyes, grieving for the first time since her uncle died almost a year back.


End file.
